The King Killer
King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women besides Pharaoh’s daughter. . . . 1 Kings 11:1
This may be one of the saddest chapters in Scripture. Solomon’s fame, wisdom and leadership were unmatched anywhere in the world. Kings and queens of other nations praised God because of his example. God was blessing both Solomon and the nation he led. Things could not have been better. But Solomon had a weakness: Solomon loved women.
The foreign women that Solomon married eventually led to his downfall and resulted in civil war in the nation that he and his father had guided so well for nearly 80 years.
They were from nations about which the Lord had told the Israelites, “You must not intermarry with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods,” (vs. 2a). God had specifically warned the nation of Israel not to intermarry with other nations, and yet Solomon is all his wisdom did not heed this warning.
Nevertheless, Solomon held fast to them in love (vs. 2b). This ‘holding fast” is a biblical way of saying that the king was addicted. His love for these women owned his heart more than God’s Word did. That’s an addiction. And in spiritual language, it’s a stronghold.
He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines, and his wives led him astray (vs. 3). Solomon could sleep with three different women each day for a year before he would see the same woman twice. Yet all of this sexual indulgence did not satisfy him.
Let me say that again: Solomon had over a thousand women available to meet his sexual needs, and yet it didn’t quench his sexual thirst. It did, however, sabotage his heart.
As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God (vs.4). It took a while, but Solomon’s sin eventually cost him his relationship with God. God had blessed Solomon because he had been wholly devoted to him. But at the end of his life, Solomon had traded his passion for God for passion for sex. That’s a common exchange even among Christ-followers today, and it always kills.
So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the Lord; he did not follow the Lord completely (vs.6). What a tragic verdict on the life of such a great leader. All of Solomon’s humility before and blessing from God evaporated in the fire of his carnal passion. The end result? The Lord became angry with Solomon because his heart had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice (vs. 9). Solomon not only broke God’s Law, he lost his favor. God’s righteous anger burned towards Solomon. Both he and the nation he led paid dearly for his sin.
What do you love today more than God? What controls you and causes you to do things that you know are wrong? What fleshly appetites so grip you that you would risk your job, your marriage, your leadership role in your church or even your freedom to satisfy them? That’s an addiction.
Have you set aside part of God’s Word to accommodate sin in your life? It does not have to be 1000 women to steal your heart from God. Each of us has something that competes for our loyalty to God. To the degree that we yield our hearts, like Solomon, we yield the Kingdom.
Wake up and heed the warnings of Scripture. Anything that competes with God in your life is an idol. It will quench the fire of God’s Spirit in you and lead your heart astray. Learn from Solomon’s mistake. Don’t deliberately walk around God’s Word just to satisfy a desire. Such behavior is fool’s folly and a killer of kings. Just ask Solomon.
©2014 Will Davis Jr. Originally posted at willdavisjr.com